Everyone out there has a blog right? Of course they do. And everyone wants beautiful photos to set off their blog right? (Just agree with me, it’s so much easier)

Problem is, not everyone has graphics software. And those that don’t don’t always know how to um…run it. Therefore, photos on blogs turn out to be horrendously humongous

causing one disaster after another (slow upload, slow download, scrolling issues) or they’re too small to tell exactly what they are….

(this is a tail from pin the tail on the donkey, a completely barbaric game. should be outlawed)

So, let’s break those photos down to size shall we?

First, when we upload our photo, WP asks us right away what size we want. And we rarely and I do mean RARELY (are you listening?) want to go larger than 500px. So choose your size wisely, grasshopper. If you want a thumbnail, choose thumbnail. (My God, they make this difficult!) Also choose your alignment. Do you want it to sit to the left, in the center or to the right?

Already have your picture uploaded when you notice it’s larger than Obama’s ears? No prob. WordPress has a handy dandy gadget built right in. Insert your picture as per usual, then on the VISUAL side of the post, click once on the photo. Here’s what pops up.

Click on the blue landscape, and now you get this

On the left hand side is 100%, 90% and so on. Move the slider down, and zoooooom there goes the size of your picture down down down. Down in the valleyyyyyyy the valley so looooowwwww……ahem. Back to work.

Click update. Voila, smaller picture.

But Carrie, isn’t there any OTHER way? What if I’m not on WordPress??

Quit yer whinin and pay attention. I’ve got tons of ideas for you if you’ll just listen!

So first of all, go to PicResize and follow the instructions. They also let you crop and apply a variety of special effects. Oooooooo. Or try on Resizr. All free, all online.